He wants Australian operations to be effective in supporting humanitarian ideals "deeply at risk in recent weeks because of the murderous advance of ISIL forces in northern Iraq and elsewhere".

Mr Abbott has not spoken with President Obama since July 24, but defence and foreign affairs ministers consulted with their American counterparts at the AusMin talks in Sydney on Tuesday.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said he had been assured by the government that it had no plans for Australian combat troops to be deployed to Iraq, which doesn't preclude humanitarian operations.

He welcomed news that Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki would heed calls to step aside, saying his exit would help bring about a more inclusive Iraqi government.

He said Iraq needed to include its Sunni minority along with the Shia majority in the same government, and other groups need to be heard, including the Kurds.

"I think there has been a lot of significant American diplomacy, and Iraqi national political debate, which will see - hopefully - a coalition government formed including all of the views in Iraq," Mr Shorten told reporters in Melbourne on Friday.

"This, hopefully, will starve the terrorists, fundamentalists and the extremists of oxygen to wreak their particular form of havoc in Iraq."